BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Jefferson County Commissioner Sandra Little Brown testified in federal court this afternoon that she agrees the county has not complied with a 1982 consent decree that mandates the county clean up its hiring practices so it doesn't discriminate against blacks and women.

But, Brown said, she believes the county is trying to get into compliance now that it has a county manager who can oversee all hiring. Tony Petelos was hired as the county's first manager in 2011.

Brown said she would agree to the county being placed under court oversight through an independent monitor. "I would embrace a monitor," she said.

Commission President David Carrington also is expected to take the witness stand this afternoon in the contempt of court hearing, which began Monday before Smith.

The hearing originally had begun March 30, 2009, but was recessed after two days for reasons unrelated to the case. The hearing stems from a 2007 motion by attorneys representing groups of people who had sued -- known as the Martin-Bryant plaintiffs _ to hold the county in civil contempt of court. The motion claims the county has not lived up to the requirements under the consent decree.

Brown's admission that the county hasn't lived up to the consent decree isn't new. County attorneys have already admitted in court and in court documents that the county has failed to meet the requirements under the consent decree.

The county also agrees to monitoring and a new hiring process for 165 jobs in which job would be filled randomly from lists of qualified candidates provided by the Jefferson County Personnel Board. The county also would agree to a new process for hiring another 12 job classifications.

Brown said that after she took office after her election in 2010 she met with her department heads concerning the consent decree. "I told my department heads I was not going to tolerate any unfair treatment of anybody," she said.

Brown, who grew up in Lipscomb in the 1960s, related a story about having to go into the Bessemer library after hours to read books because she is black.